The Ermenegildo Zegna Founder’s Scholarship supports the studies of 85 talented young people
Since 2014, the programme has supported the training of 646 young people at leading international universities and research centres. It has a strong focus on biomedical and STEM disciplines
A total of 85 new scholarships will be awarded for the 2026/2027 academic year, made available by Ermenegildo Zegna Founder’s Scholarship to support young talents in their academic careers at some of the most prestigious universities and leading international centres of excellence.
The Ermenegildo Zegna Founder’s Scholarship, organised by the Zegna Foundation, with an annual grant of up to 1 million euros, selects candidates through a selection committee comprising leading figures from the academic world and members of the Zegna family, based on applications received from Italy’s leading universities and institutions of excellence.
The 2026/2027 intake confirms the strong focus on STEM and biomedical disciplines, with over 50 per cent of scholarship holders set to undertake study, specialisation and research in these areas. The programme’s international dimension has also been strengthened: 72 per cent of scholarship recipients have been admitted to universities ranked in the Top 60 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. There is also a growing number of academic destinations in Asia, with five scholarship holders set to continue their studies at Tsinghua University (Beijing), the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore).
Now in its thirteenth edition, the programme has awarded a total of 646 scholarships over the past 13 years and has built a community of researchers, professionals and leaders united by academic excellence and a desire to put the skills they have acquired abroad at the service of Italia.
At the annual meeting between the new scholarship holders and the alumni community of the Ermenegildo Zegna Founder’s Scholarship, held on 24 July, the group’s chairman, Gildo Zegna, stated that ‘talent and merit have always been two core values of our family, ever since the Founder’s time. That is why, every year, we support talented, determined and ambitious young people by offering them the opportunity to study at the world’s finest academic institutions. The aim is to help them develop skills, an international outlook and leadership based on ethics and a sense of responsibility so that, upon their return to Italia, they can put their knowledge to good use. The greatest value of the Founder’s Scholarship lies precisely in this: building a bridge between young people and the future of our country, transforming an individual opportunity into a collective asset’.
